Ram Temple Trust appoints IAF, Sindoor veteran as first CEO amid donation row
The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust on Wednesday appointed a former air marshal as its first chief executive officer (CEO) and inducted three new members as it attempted a major restructuring to move on from the swirling controversy over irregularities in donation collections at the Ram Temple.
In two back-to-back meetings, the trust also named incumbent treasurer Govind Dev Giri – who was in the post when the donation row erupted this summer – as the new full-time general secretary. Giri was replaced as treasurer by Delhi-based businessman Mahesh Bhagchandka, who also runs the Ashok Singhal Foundation.
The appointments ended speculation about the return of former trust members Champat Rai and Anil Mishra, who had quit their posts in July.
Air Marshal (retired) Jeetendra Mishra, the newly named CEO of the trust, was one of the top planners of Operation Sindoor and received a medal for distinguished service of exceptional order for his role during the four-day military confrontation with Pakistan last year. Mishra, a fighter combat leader and an experimental test pilot, retired on April 30 as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Subroto Park-based Western Air Command.
“I am full of gratitude, and I consider myself a very fortunate person,” he told HT.
Also read: IAF veteran, Delhi businessman, lawyer, RSS worker: Meet Ram Temple Trust’s new faces
Three new members inducted, first woman joins trust
Bhagchandka, former additional advocate general Madan Mohan Pandey, a resident of Ayodhya who fought the Ram Janmabhoomi title case in the 1990s, and Nirmala Yadav, former principal of PG College, Shikohabad, were the new trust members. Yadav is the first woman member of the body that oversees and manages the Ram Temple.
VHP international president Alok Kumar welcomed the appointment of Bhagchandka, describing him as a “frontline soldier” of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.
“Out of three names shortlisted by the search committee, the trust selected former Air Marshal Jeetendra Mishra for the CEO’s post,” said former interim general secretary Krishna Mohan after the meeting. However, no decision could be taken on the position of spokesperson for the trust, added Mohan.
A native of Bhopatpura village under Bhatpar Rani police station in Deoria district of eastern Uttar Pradesh, Mishra’s appointment as CEO for three years marks a shift from trustee-led management to professional corporate oversight for daily security, logistics, crowd and multi-crore funds.
Also read: 'Need to learn from past but...': New Ram Temple CEO Jeetendra Mishra on donation theft case
Restructuring follows donation collection controversy
The appointments mark the most significant effort to shake-up the trust’s functioning that had come under mounting criticism after the controversy over donation collections at the Ram Temple.
The BJP welcomed the appointment of retired Air Marshal Mishra as the CEO, stressing the Trust operates independently. BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP and former deputy Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma said, “Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust is an independent body and its decisions uphold religious sentiments without outside interference.”
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav asked why employees arrested in the alleged temple donation theft case were still in jail while senior officials had been given a clean chit. Rajya Sabha MP Ramjilal Suman (SP) also questioned the government’s action against those allegedly involved in the earlier irregularities. “New committees are being formed and a new CEO is being appointed, but what has the government done against those who committed the earlier wrongdoing?” he said.
Temple donation row led to SIT probes and arrests
The donation theft controversy first surfaced on June 7 when Samajwadi Party leader Tej Narayan ‘Pawan’ Pandey alleged that donations worth ₹5 crore to ₹7.5 crore were siphoned off from temple offerings. On June 13, the state government set up the first SIT comprising Lucknow divisional commissioner Vijay Vishwas Panth, inspector general of police (Lucknow range) Kiran S and special secretary (finance) Neel Ratan).
On June 25, a first information report was registered against eight named accused and other unidentified people under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 306, 316(5), 317(4), 317(5), 61 and 3(5), relating to offences such as criminal breach of trust, cheating, theft and criminal conspiracy, along with Section 13(1)(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Also read: Ex-Ram Temple official Champat Rai gets clean chit in donation theft case weeks after resignation
All eight accused named in the FIR -- Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Ram Shankar Yadav alias Tinnu, Manish Yadav, Subhash Srivastava, Avinash Shukla, Rama Shankar Mishra and Karunesh Pandey -- were arrested on June 26 and nearly ₹80 lakh was recovered from their homes.
The SIT named Ram Shankar Yadav or Tinnu Yadav – a former aide and driver of Rai – as the mastermind behind the alleged diversion of funds. Anukalp Mishra and Luvkush Mishra are related to each other, and also to Anil Mishra.
A second SIT was constituted in July following the Supreme Court’s direction for an IPS-led investigation.
SIT flags lapses but finds no leadership-level wrongdoing
On August 17, the first SIT’s final report flagged “gross lapses” in the functioning of the trust and questioned the State Bank of India’s (SBI) role and the lack of professional financial management in the Trust. However, it found no evidence of financial impropriety at the leadership level.
Amid mounting criticism, on July 6, the Trust accepted the resignations of Rai as general secretary and Mishra as member, removed administrator Gopal Rao, and announced a three-member panel to appoint a new chief executive officer as it sought to restore its image.
5,585 applicants screened for CEO post
The trust announced the formation of a three-member committee to identify a CEO, comprising retired judge Pramod Kohli, retired army lieutenant general Vishnukant Chaturvedi and National Institute of Technology Raipur chairman Suresh Haware.
The committee submitted a panel of three candidates after AI-enabled screening of 5,585 applicants and 16 face-to-face interviews. The two other shortlisted candidates were former Major General Sanjay Pratap Singh and WHO Shruti Bharadwaj, Krishna Mohan said.
The Wednesday meeting was attended by the trust’s chief Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, Giri and other trustees, while several members participated online. Giri said Krishna Mohan had played a crucial role in steering the trust through “troubled times”.
He said the trust may appoint a joint CEO or deputy CEO if required and would prepare an SOP specifying the CEO’s duties and responsibilities.
“We have to make Ayodhya the world’s cultural capital. We will not leave any stone unturned for this,” he added.
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